Tar Sands 101
The Tar Sands "Gigaproject" is the largest industrial project in human history and likely also the most destructive. The tar sands mining procedure releases at least three times the CO2 emissions as regular oil production and is slated to become the single largest industrial contributor in North America to Climate Change.
The tar sands are already slated to be the cause of up to the second fastest rate of deforestation on the planet behind the Amazon Rainforest Basin. Currently approved projects will see 3 million barrels of tar sands mock crude produced daily by 2018; for each barrel of oil up to as high as five barrels of water are used.
Human health in many communities has seriously taken a turn for the worse with many causes alleged to be from tar sands production. Tar sands production has led to many serious social issues throughout Alberta, from housing crises to the vast expansion of temporary foreign worker programs that racialize and exploit so-called non-citizens. Infrastructure from pipelines to refineries to super tanker oil traffic on the seas crosses the continent in all directions to allthree major oceans and the Gulf of Mexico.
The mock oil produced primarily is consumed in the United States and helps to subsidize continued wars of aggression against other oil producing nations such as Iraq, Venezuela and Iran.
To understand the tar sands in more depth, continue to our Tar Sands 101 reading list
Thunder Bay, On: Local work helping western tar sands
Local work helping western oil sands
By Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch // June 26, 2009
It’s big, it looks complicated, it’s worth a half a million dollars and it’s an integral part of Thunder Bay’s economic future.
On Friday Venshore Mechanical Ltd. unveiled one of two fuel offloading modules it has built – with the assistance of several other local-area companies – and plans to deliver to western Canada for use in the multi-billion oil sands project.
Tar sands "as they are" provoke negative press coverage
June 26, 2009
Tar sands "as they are" provoke negative press coverage
Here's an interesting admission from the first edition of the Canada West Foundation's Oil Sands Media Monitoring Report:
China's unquenchable thirst for oil
China's unquenchable thirst for oil
Despite recession, the Chinese are aggressively pursuing energy assets
Shawn McCarthy and Eric Reguly
Ottawa, Rome — Globe and Mail
Jun. 27, 2009
A refinery in Singapore. Oil and gas fields in Central Asia. A pipeline in Russia. Ultradeep crude deposits off Brazil. Production wells in Libya.
And now Toronto-listed Addax Petroleum Corp., (AXC-T49.930.180.36%) with its oil fields in western Africa and Iraq's Kurdistan.
OPTI sticks to plan to raise cash
Opti's parent corporation is Ormat, the Israeli corporation that developed "orcrude"-- otherwise known in Alberta as "co-generation"-- burning the waste gunk from the bottom of a barrel of tar sands bitumen to provide energy. This would eventually be used in much of historical Palestine to develop oil shale and has been using the Long Lake plant as a laboratory to make this production happen. Long Lake officially went commercial in October of last year.
--M
OPTI sticks to plan to raise cash
DAVID EBNER // VANCOUVER
Globe and Mail
Jun. 27, 2009
Keystone pipeline: Gold mine or environmental disaster?
Keystone pipeline: Gold mine or environmental disaster?
By WESLEY P. JAMES
The governor wants the pipeline for the jobs, county commissioners want the pipeline for the property taxes and local businesses want the pipeline for the economic activity generated by the construction and operation of the pipeline.
Strong response to racist backlash against Six Nations in Ontario offers important lessons for Albertans
Issues: Learning from the present
Strong response to racist backlash against Six Nations in Ontario offers important lessons for Albertans
Macdonald Stainsby / oilsandstruth.org
Vue Weekly, Week of June 25, 2009
Canada's 'toxic secret' soon to be made public
Canada's 'toxic secret' soon to be made public
Last Updated: Thursday, June 18, 2009 |
CBC News
Environmental groups have long called the tailings lakes in the Alberta oilsands Canada's toxic secret, but companies operating there will soon be required to disclose exactly what pollutants are there.
In April, a federal court ordered Ottawa to make the mining industry release a complete inventory of what material they release into the environment. Now companies in the oilsands will also have to comply, CBC News has learned.
Sonic, Shell team for tar sands patent
Sonic, Shell team for oilsands patent
Details of 'innovation' not disclosed
By Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald
June 24, 2009
CALGARY - A small startup has teamed up with one of the world's largest oil majors to develop a patent for processing heavy oil and oilsands.
Vancouver-based Sonic Technology Solutions on Tuesday said it has partnered with Shell Canada to jointly file a patent application for the recovery of bitumen from oilsands.
Which Matters Most? The Size of the Tap or the Tank?
Which Matters Most? The Size of the Tap or the Tank?
Scitizen // Kurt Cobb
22 Jun, 2009
Energy optimists are fond of citing very large numbers for worldwide fossil fuel resources such as oil and natural gas. But they conveniently leave out the critical variable. How fast can we actually produce these resources?
Investment not worth the spills
Investment not worth the spills
Smithers Interior News
June 24, 2009
Editor:
Christine Ogryzlo, from the Smithers Exploration Group, suggests in her letter that we should allow Enbridge to bring tar sands pipelines and super crude oil tankers to our coast to show that we support development in this region, acknowledging that it won’t bring about many jobs. That’s a pretty high-risk way to send a message.
